Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – Movie Review

Probably one of the most eagerly awaited movies of 2016, Batman Vs Super Dawn of Justice hits screens on Friday 25th of March. So the question on everyone’s lips is this, does it live up the expectations? For me the answer is part yes and part no, and from reading other reviews, it seems many are of the same opinion. I’ll give you my views below without too many spoilers.

Batman Vs Superman – Dawn of Justice

The Yes Part

It’s an epic blockbuster of massive proportion and who doesn’t love one of them. Ok the action is a little slow for the first hour but with a run time of 2h 33mins there is still plenty of bang for your buck in the second half.

Casting wise Henry Cavill returns as Superman and does the job I’d expect him to do following his performance in Man of Steel. It’s solid enough but if I’m honest there are parts where he is less superhero and more Nancy boy. I blame that however on the storyline with Lois, which I’ll get to later. Ben Affleck as Batman, I was in two minds about. I couldn’t decide if he pulled it off or pulled a Clooney (poor performance). His Batman is a different breed in this movie. He’s older, more jaded with the world and weary of Superman. He’s also more gritty, violent and all about branding bad guys, and I mean literally branding them with a bat symbol.

Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is a roaring success. She has great screen presence, a sense of wit and adds a welcome contrast to the two boys punching it out. Jessie Eisenberg, I liked him as Lex Luthor. He won’t be to everyone’s taste as at times he is more Joker than Luthor but nonetheless he worked for me. There is also a whole host of other stars battling for screen time. Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Holly Hunter as Senator Finch and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor

The No Part

The movie really feels like its packing way too much in and at times it all feels just to much. Yes it’s setting up the audience for future instalments, but is it doing it at the risk of it’s own delivery? I think so. We are given snippets of new characters to come like Aquaman and The Flash and its all bit rushed. Also to note, if you haven’t seen Man of Steel, the start of this story is going to be quite confusing.

Lois Lane, well she pretty much does nothing but get in the way, slow Superman down and generally little or no use is made of her character that warrants the amount of screen time it gets. Doomsday. No No No. More disaster to be honest. It’s CGI car crash stuff and while I’m aware we need to leave logic behind for superhero movies, Doomsday is a CGI abomination from start to finish. The battle scene with him also leaves little to the imagination and is completely underwhelming.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

Batman Vs Superman is directed by Zack Snyder (Man of Steel, Watchmen,300) and writers David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel) and Chris Terrio (Argo, forthcoming Justice League) and I’m giving it 3 out of 5. Why? well I’m a fan and I can see the potential of where the movie is going and what is to follow. Wonder Woman really stole the show for me. Check out the trailer below and see what you think.